"Orazio Michi now plays this double harp almost miraculously, not
only as regards his enormous skills, but also in terms of his particular way
of damping the sound of the strings, which, were they to continue to sound,
would cause dissonance and cacophony". Thus praised a contemporary the art
of Orazio Michi who had the addition "dell'Arpa" to his name. He was
mentioned in the same breath as theorbo virtuoso Kapsberger and as
Frescobaldi, the greatest master of the harpsichord in his time. All three
worked in Rome.

Michi was born in Alife, near Caserta, not far from Naples. There he
probably received his first lessons at the harp as this instrument was one
of the most appreciated in early 17th-century Naples. The two most
distinguished harpists were Giovanni de Macque and Giovanni Maria Trabaci;
both composed a large number of pieces for the instrument. No pieces for the
harp by Michi have been preserved. In all probability he mostly improvised
as was the habit of instrumental virtuosos at the time.

In 1613 he entered the service of Cardinal Montalto in Rome who
accumulated so much wealth that he could support the arts, and especially
music. Michi was richly rewarded for his service. Rémi Cassaigne, in
his liner-notes, mentions that he received an annual pension of 300 scudi,
whereas all other employees of the Cardinal received only 3 scudi per month.
Shortly before his death in 1623 the Cardinal left Michi an additional
annual pension of 2,000 golden scudi. After the Cardinal's death Michi
entered the service of various other Cardinals. He also had connections with
various institutions in the city to which he left his belongings in his
will. The French gambist and writer André Maugars was in Rome in 1637
or 1638 and later reported his musical experiences. He had some rather
negative things to say about Michi. Apart from jealousy, as Cassaigne
suggests, this could well be a token of a decline in Michi's skills. That
was probably due to his ill health as the inventory of his furniture
includes an invalid's chair.

The largest part of Michi's music, which is exclusively for voice
and basso continuo, has been preserved in two manuscripts in the Biblioteca
Casanatense and in a manuscript which is held in the Biblioteca Nazionale,
both in Rome. The content is quite different. The pieces in the former two
manuscripts were apparently written for public performance at an oratory,
whereas the latter is a kind of personal notebook. The handwriting is less
polished, and the placement of the basso continuo figures in some of the
vocal parts - rather than on a different stave - suggests performance by a
singer who accompanies himself. These pieces are mostly secular, whereas the
items in the first two manuscripts are of a moral and spiritual nature.
Several of them implicitly or more explicitly refer to the death of Jesus on
the cross. An example of the former is Empio cor: "Ungodly heart,
ungrateful heart, your blows have nailed me to this wood". Much more
explicit is the Sonetto di Papa Urbano VIII sopra Christo crocifisso,
the text for which was written by pope Urban VIII, a member of the powerful
Barberini family and another important patron of the arts. Folle, folle
chi crede is a specimen of a moralistic piece: "Crazy, crazy is he who
believes that our pride sits gladly on a jewelled throne". Expressive
language is a notable feature of all these pieces. It was the task of the
singer to communicate this, according to the ideals of recitar
cantando. The texts include exclamations, questions and commands, and
dynamics are very important to convey them. The messa di voce - the
swelling on a single note - was one of the frequently used means to achieve
this.

Françoise Masset understands this and uses it to good effect.
In general she pays much attention to the text and applies all the means
which singers at the time had at their disposal to communicate the content
of a piece. That includes dynamic shading, a free treatment of the rhythm
and the colouring of the voice. Some pieces have a strophic texture, such as
Pensier ch'al ciel s'en vola, and here she displays her skills in the
ornamentation department.

As we have no instrumental pieces from Michi’s pen,
compositions by Frescobaldi, de Macque, Trabaci and Kapsberger are used as
compensation. They give a good impression of the technical skills which were
required from players of the keyboard, the harp and plucked instruments. A
large part of the repertoire for these instruments is interchangeable and
can be played on either of them. They also show the same sense of
experimentation, for instance in harmony and the use of chromaticism, as
many of Michi's vocal works. Nanja Breedijk and Rémi Cassaigne give
effective support to Ms Masset, all in the interest of the expression of the
text.

There is just one thing I regret: Françoise Masset uses a bit
too much vibrato which is stylistically untenable. However, it doesn't
dissuade me from recommending this disc. It is a compelling musical portrait
of the fascinating music of Michi and his time.